Sectional housing for air conditioning



Jul 3, 1962 D.DORFMAN SECTIONAL HOUSING FOR AIR CONDITIONING Filed Jan.16, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l I ll FIGE) UVVENTUR. DON DORFMAN July 3, 1962D. DORFMAN SECTIONAL HOUSING FOR AIR CONDITIONING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 16, 1959 FIGS INVENTOR. DON DORFMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent3,042,157 SECTIGNAL HOUSING FOR AIR CONDITIONING Don Dorfman, 403 E.Aliens Lane, Philadelphia 19, Pa. Filed Jan. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 787,3013 Claims. ((11. 18934) My invention relates to a sectional housing forencasing an air conditioning unit, and relates particularly to thepaneling for forming the walls of the housing.

Heretofore, air conditioning units which have been generally placed onthe top of a building such as a penthouse, have been encased withinplastic molded panels. The air conditioning housing panels are usuallyconstructed of sections of panels which are bolted or riveted together.When the housing is completed on a penthouse, persons such as mechanicscarrying long pipes or wrenches accidentally strike the plastic panelledhousing with a heavy blow whereby the panelling is shattered.

To remove the shattered panel is costly, because the construction of theunit invariably requires the dismantling of many parts.

Frequently, something may happen to the panelling such as shattering orbreaking and it is necessary to change or alter one panel and theplastic panelling that has been used has invariably been expensive and atedious task.

In housing air conditioning equipment, it sometimes is desirable toremove all of the moisture from the air and the way this is done is thatthe air is cooled to a very low temperature and then it is heated. At alow tempera ture, the moisture is removed and then the air is heated andrun through the air conditioner. Therefore, it is apparent that this isan expensive manner of handling this operation, so that the containerfor the room should be substantially free of having moisture from theoutside permeate to the inside where the air is cool. It is alsodesirable that the B.t.u. interchange between the outside of the housingto the inside be at a minimum.

With my invention I provide a housing for air conditioning equipmentwhich is insulated, which is substantially vaporproof and which does notneed special equipment for support. Furthermore, it is imperative thatthere be a tight seal to prevent the entrance of moisture or heated airfrom the outside into the inside of the enclosure.

It therefore, is an object of my invention to provide a housing for airconditioning equipment wherein the housing is constructed of panellingwherein each panel comprises spaced metal sheets which have insulationbetween them. The panels, when bolted or held together panel to panel,must provide a tight seal and must reduce the transfer of heat from oneside of the panel to the other side of the panel; and it also mustreduce the permeation of moisture from one side of the panelled housingto the other side.

Another object of my invention is to provide a housing which issubstantially impervious to the transfer of heat or moisture from oneside of the panel to the other side of the panel by virtue ofconvection.

Another object of my invention is to provide panelling which reduces thetransfer of heat or moisture to a minimum amount by virtue of convectionand of conduction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a housing for airconditioning equipment of the panelling which may have a single panelremoved or inserted without disturbing the remainder of the housing.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of thecharacter described, that is easily and economically produced, which issturdy in construction, and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in thedetails of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fullyunderstood from the following description when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a panel embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a pair of panels bolted together.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the pair of panels shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the metal spacer for holding the wallsof the panel together.

FIG. 6 is a view of an air conditioning housing wherein the housing isconstructed of panels embodying my invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the removal of an individual panel.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings wherein similarreference characters refer to similar parts, I show a panelled housingfor air conditioning equipment wherein the wall panelling is made up ofindividual panels, generally designated as A, which may be of differentwidths and of difierent lengths.

The specific details of a panel is as follows: A metal sheet, generallydesignated as B1, is parallel to a second similar panel, generallydesignated as B2, but wherein the panels B1 and B2 have their edges 10,12 off-set with respect to one another. The edge 10 of the panel B1 isoverturned to form a bead 13. The other edge 14 has an off-set at 16,and a natural rubber or felt or synthetic rubber strip 18 is laid up onthe outside surface 16 whereby the strip serves as a gasket. The strip18 is adapted to provide a substantially tight seal as shall hereinafterbe described. The gasket or rubber strip 18 is located so that the wall10 of an adjoining panel (see FIG. 3) can fit between an edge of thegasket 18 and the metal sheet B1. The similar panels B1 and B2 areseparated from one another by a spacer 20 which is a U-shaped sheetmetal strip welded to each of the metal sheets B1 and B2 adjacent theportion of the threaded holder 22 which provides for receiving a holdingscrew 24. The holding screw is aligned with an opening 26 in the gasketand the metal sheet B1 and the holding screw 24 also passes through anopening 28 in the metal strip.

In operation, if the panel is to be removed after the housing is up, dueto rusting or some other cause, the panelling being self-supporting, mayhave the screw bolts removed and the panel to be removed is tilted withrespect to the other panels so that the off-set sections are separatedfrom the adjoining sections and the panel removed. The new panel isreinserted in the reverse order. It is tilted in position and then theoff-set free edges are bolted to the adjoining portions.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting,since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of theinvention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim:

1. A panel section adapted to be detachably secured to a plurality oflike sections to form a housing for air conditioning equipment, saidsection comprising a pair of spaced sheets and an interposed layer ofinsulation, said spaced sheets having at least two edges thereof oil-setwith respect to one another, each of said sheets having a first edgeoverturned to form a bead and at least one aperture formed in said sheetadjacent said first edge and said head, each of said sheets having asecond edge parallel to said first edge and longitudinally off-set fromsaid sheet, a sealing strip applied to said second edge against saidofi-set and at least one aperture formed in said sealing strip and insaid second sheet adjacent said second edge whereby said first edge isadapted to overlie and to be detachably secured to the second edge of alike section at said apertures adjacent said edges, and said second edgeis adapted to overlie and to be detachably secured to the first edge ofa like section at corresponding apertures in order to form a portion ofa housing for air conditioning equipment, which housing is bothmoistureproof and resistant to the permeation of air.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said sheets are separated from oneanother by a U-shaped spacer secured to said sheets.

3. A detachable panel for forming a housing for air conditioningequipment which is both moisture-proof and will not permit air topermeate from one side to the other, said panel comprising a pluralityof panelled sections detachably held together, each panel comprising apair of spaced sheets and an interposed layer of insulation, said spacedsheets having at least two edges thereof off-set with respect to oneanother, each of said sheets having a first edge overturned to form abead and at least one aperture formed in said sheet and adjacent saidfirst edge and said bead, each of said sheets having a second edgeparallel to said first edge and off-set from said sheet, a sealing stripapplied to said second edge against said offset and at least oneaperture formed in said sealing strip and in said second sheet adjacentsaid second edge whereby said first edge is adapted to overlie and to bedetachably secured to the second edge of a like section at saidapertures adjacent said edges, and said second edge is adapted tooveriie and to be detachably secured to the first edge of a like sectionat corresponding apertures.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,825,432 Parkes Mar. 4, 1958

